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Procedure price report · Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology)

Stool test for H. pylori stomach bacteria antigen

CPT 87338the billing code this page is about

Laboratory test that detects Helicobacter pylori antigen in a stool sample using an enzyme immunoassay.

Hospitals typically charge $94 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,205 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $99. Most fall between $41 and $184 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,205
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 3,205 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$25$48$94$162$254

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($25 vs $254).

How the prices are spread

$17 – $23: 132 hospitals$17$23 – $31: 161 hospitals$31 – $42: 203 hospitals$31$42 – $57: 281 hospitals$57 – $78: 433 hospitals$57$78 – $106: 419 hospitals$106 – $144: 474 hospitals$106$144 – $196: 370 hospitals$196 – $267: 295 hospitals$196$267 – $363: 122 hospitals$267median $94price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,890 of 3,205 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$17$23132
$23$31161
$31$42203
$42$57281
$57$78433
$78$106419
$106$144474
$144$196370
$196$267295
$267$363122

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $94.

Alaska: median $181 across 19 hospitalsAK$181Maine: median $91 across 27 hospitalsME$91Vermont: median $184 across 13 hospitalsVT$184New Hampshire: median $95 across 25 hospitalsNH$95Washington: median $135 across 73 hospitalsWA$135Idaho: median $91 across 23 hospitalsID$91Montana: median $85 across 29 hospitalsMT$85North Dakota: median $101 across 33 hospitalsND$101Minnesota: median $97 across 101 hospitalsMN$97Illinois: median $142 across 143 hospitalsIL$142Wisconsin: median $125 across 107 hospitalsWI$125Michigan: median $66 across 85 hospitalsMI$66New York: median $54 across 99 hospitalsNY$54Massachusetts: median $104 across 50 hospitalsMA$104Oregon: median $72 across 47 hospitalsOR$72Nevada: median $86 across 19 hospitalsNV$86Wyoming: median $94 across 15 hospitalsWY$94South Dakota: median $238 across 39 hospitalsSD$238Iowa: median $112 across 86 hospitalsIA$112Indiana: median $95 across 95 hospitalsIN$95Ohio: median $68 across 125 hospitalsOH$68Pennsylvania: median $75 across 120 hospitalsPA$75New Jersey: median $17 across 54 hospitalsNJ$17Connecticut: median $77 across 20 hospitalsCT$77Rhode Island: median $100 across 10 hospitalsRI$100California: median $84 across 141 hospitalsCA$84Utah: median $168 across 43 hospitalsUT$168Colorado: median $128 across 64 hospitalsCO$128Nebraska: median $172 across 77 hospitalsNE$172Missouri: median $89 across 71 hospitalsMO$89Kentucky: median $161 across 68 hospitalsKY$161West Virginia: median $70 across 42 hospitalsWV$70Virginia: median $108 across 72 hospitalsVA$108Maryland: median $82 across 41 hospitalsMD$82Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $92 across 42 hospitalsAZ$92New Mexico: median $64 across 28 hospitalsNM$64Kansas: median $99 across 82 hospitalsKS$99Arkansas: median $55 across 38 hospitalsAR$55Tennessee: median $61 across 71 hospitalsTN$61North Carolina: median $85 across 89 hospitalsNC$85South Carolina: median $204 across 51 hospitalsSC$204Oklahoma: median $113 across 72 hospitalsOK$113Louisiana: median $62 across 49 hospitalsLA$62Mississippi: median $70 across 55 hospitalsMS$70Alabama: median $70 across 39 hospitalsAL$70Georgia: median $126 across 105 hospitalsGA$126Hawaii: median $90 across 17 hospitalsHI$90Texas: median $80 across 231 hospitalsTX$80Florida: median $45 across 153 hospitalsFL$45
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $94. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD39$238+153%$138 – $282
South Carolina SC51$204+116%$113 – $217
Vermont VT13$184+95%$78 – $402
Alaska AK19$181+92%$87 – $323
Nebraska NE77$172+83%$95 – $272
Utah UT43$168+79%$142 – $234
Kentucky KY68$161+71%$58 – $206
Illinois IL143$142+51%$68 – $244
Washington WA73$135+43%$64 – $195
Colorado CO64$128+36%$68 – $187
Georgia GA105$126+34%$45 – $154
Wisconsin WI107$125+33%$61 – $152
Oklahoma OK72$113+20%$32 – $155
Iowa IA86$112+19%$39 – $203
Virginia VA72$108+15%$25 – $222
Massachusetts MA50$104+11%$50 – $216
North Dakota ND33$101+7%$27 – $157
Rhode Island RI10$100+6%$46 – $154
Kansas KS82$99+5%$58 – $174
Minnesota MN101$97+3%$49 – $161
Indiana IN95$95+1%$32 – $180
New Hampshire NH25$95+1%$59 – $200
Wyoming WY15$940%$31 – $119
Arizona AZ42$92−2%$36 – $180
Maine ME27$91−3%$53 – $164
Idaho ID23$91−4%$64 – $121
Hawaii HI17$90−4%$86 – $116
Missouri MO71$89−5%$72 – $168
Nevada NV19$86−9%$23 – $208
Montana MT29$85−9%$62 – $135
North Carolina NC89$85−9%$27 – $179
California CA141$84−11%$28 – $162
Maryland MD41$82−12%$63 – $98
Texas TX231$80−15%$41 – $285
Connecticut CT20$77−18%$43 – $120
Pennsylvania PA120$75−20%$21 – $169
Oregon OR47$72−24%$44 – $105
Alabama AL39$70−25%$26 – $166
West Virginia WV42$70−26%$33 – $209
Mississippi MS55$70−26%$28 – $126
Ohio OH125$68−28%$50 – $135
Michigan MI85$66−30%$10 – $101
New Mexico NM28$64−32%$32 – $148
Louisiana LA49$62−34%$20 – $140
Tennessee TN71$61−35%$35 – $158
Arkansas AR38$55−42%$17 – $76
New York NY99$54−42%$19 – $173
Florida FL153$45−53%$30 – $151
New Jersey NJ54$17−82%$15 – $48
Delaware DE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $94.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,202$84$35 – $179
Children’s49$100$43 – $202
Critical access945$114$59 – $197
Ownership
For-profit441$118$43 – $336
Government609$101$45 – $185
Non-profit2,146$87$40 – $170
System affiliation
Part of a system2,590$94$40 – $187
Independent615$96$44 – $179

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$153
Median cash price$94
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

2,161 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $96 and the average of the middle 60% is $98; most fall between $43 and $175.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,161 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$26$52$96$155$229

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($26 vs $229).

Of the 2,375 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,161 gave a usable cash price; 113 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 101 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,205 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (81%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,478 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,205
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here154
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded118
Hospitals that filed this code3,478

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between July 20, 2026 and September 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC H Pylori Ag,Feces.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Stool test for H. pylori stomach bacteria antigen (CPT 87338) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87338-stool-test-for-h-pylori-stomach-bacteria-antigen